Gosport nursery plans go ahead despite residents’ concerns

A NURSERY will be built in the grounds of a school despite concerns about parking and additional traffic in the area.

Leesland Junior School, in Gosport, will house the new nursery after getting planning permission from Gosport Borough Council.

But neighbours living near the school, on Gordon Road, have concerns with the plans saying they would cause extra traffic issues during rush hour.

Resident Denise Lyons objected to the plans by writing to the council.

She said the road is already heavily congested and the nursery would make things worse.

‘Traffic will only get worse should this proposal go ahead,’ she said.

‘I feel it will also impact on the safety of the children with the increased traffic these plans will generate.

‘As a resident of Gordon Road I feel that trying to park will become more of a nightmare than it already is.’

Other neighbours in the area expressed the same concerns.

Andrew Nickerson also objected to the council after the plans had been submitted.

He said: ‘It is unrealistic to expect that the majority of children using the nursery will be delivered to the nursery on complete foot journeys.

‘This will all add up to an increase in the traffic on Gordon Road at the peak times with issues for parents from the nursery and both schools who use cars to find safe parking spaces when a large number of residents’ cars are already parked in the immediate area.’

In the application it says there will be extra parking provided for the nursery within the existing school car park.

But ward councillor Peter Chegwyn agreed with the residents’ concerns.

He added: ‘ No-one is against the nursery at all but it is the traffic which is a concern.

‘It is a safety problem there and it is an accident waiting to happen.

‘Residents are right to have the concerns because it is a danger.

‘I support the general feeling of the residents because room is tight down there and there are already problems.’